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Ken Langone: What Odd Jobs Taught Me About Success

4,256 views · Published 18 June 2018 · 1:40 · Indexed 6 November 2026

Channel: CNBC Make It · 2018 · News & Politics

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Ken Langone is one of four co-founders of Home Depot and, at 82 years old, is worth $3.5 billion, according to Forbes.

But Langone's current wealth belies his humble beginning. Growing up in Long Island, New York, Langone's parents lived from "paycheck to paycheck," he tells CNBC Make It.

Having limited financial resources and working multiple jobs as a young person gave Langone skills and perspective that the businessman drew upon later in life to become successful, he says.

"I started working when I was 11 or 12," Langone tells CNBC Make It. "One of the first things I did was sell some Christmas wreaths. And also collected [scrap] cardboard because I found out that it was worth some money."

By the time he was 14 or 15, "I delivered newspapers. I worked in a butcher shop. I cut lawns. I caddied. Those are the things I did," Langone recalls.

"And then I started working in construction at 16 and 17."

Langone's motivation to hustle was simple: "I wanted to make money! My dad was a plumber, my mother worked in the school cafeteria. Money wasn't plentiful. My parents lived from paycheck to paycheck," says the now multi-billionaire.

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Ken Langone: What Odd Jobs Taught Me About Success | CNBC Make It.

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